Sharon Kagan
The daughter of Holocaust survivors, I am fiercely aware of the
consequences of epic events. As an artist I am interested in the
consequences of subtle actions as they relate to systems and patterns.
I began knitting after my mother died in 2003. It was a way to bind my
grief. My mother had been an expert handworker expressing herself
through knitting, sewing, needlepoint, and crochet. Beyond my grief, I
began to look at knitting as an art medium. The first piece I made was
Eins Un Tsvei, a four-foot color wheel. The title is a Yiddish phrase
that is loosely translated as “hurry” or the English phrase “one, two,
three.” It is a title filled with irony, as knitting is not immediate,
but does involve a lot of counting. By making a traditional art tool I
had declared that knitting was part of my art lexicon. I then turned to
knitting for the intricate structures it creates. I am fascinated by
the idea that one simple thread can form a complex fabric, but cut the
thread at any spot and the entire system unravels.
My current work is the outgrowth of a series of installations that used
wooden blocks that were set up as elaborate domino patterns. Obstacles,
Inhibitions and Consequential Actions: 452 Blocks was a piece that had
pairs of words hammered into the two faces of the wood. They included
“resist/relent,” “allergy/affinity” and “Topanga/Inglewood.” Although
the words were predominantly in English, some were Korean, Vietnamese,
Persian, Yiddish, German, Spanish and Hindi. Viewers were encouraged to
play, they could trip the dominos, construct new patterns or use the
blocks to build.
My latest work continues the exploration of mapped pattern, the
inter-relatedness of life and the notion of consequential actions. But
it also does something more; it brings people’s eyes upward. It is this
important gesture that redefines my work. Each of the knitted
installations seeks to uplift the viewer while inserting a gentle,
feminine presence. My most recent work, Fascia, is a 10 ½-foot by
17-foot outdoor installation. Knit out of 170-pound hemp twine, this
large overhang hovers above a concrete pad painted ultramarine blue.
The shadows cast by the knitting turn industrial concrete into a
shimmering pool of water.
I chose to get involved with SEA because I loved the idea of sharing
work and thereby inspiring each other with our work. I also enjoyed the
idea of combining some of my previous work with my more recent knit
projects.
My artistic influences are Christo for his use of scale and space;
Robert Irwin for his relationship to light; my mother, Dina Kagan for
her dedication to the highest level of craft; Judy Chicago because of
her vision, and Eva Hesse for her knowledge of materials and the
immaterial.
I enjoy making large structures in a medium designed for small forms and
taking photographs of small models to create the illusion of large
spaces. I want my work to speak in the languages of the body (space,
substance, systems and sensation) with humor and a sense of wonder.
BIO
Sharon Kagan, M.F.A. is a visual/installation artist whose tools are
knitting, crochet, language and graphite drawing. She is a Brody Arts
Fund Fellowship Award recipient and a California Arts Council
Artist-in-Residence. Among her many exhibitions her work has been shown
at Patricia Correia Gallery and Gallery 825. Kagan is the founder and
director of The Creativity Center in Santa Monica. She is also
currently an associate professor at Santa Monica College, where she
helped develop the Art Mentor Program for gifted students. Kagan earned
her degrees from UCLA and Otis Art Institute where she trained with
Betye Saar and Germano Celant. Between undergraduate and graduate
school Sharon apprenticed herself to artist, Judy Chicago, while
contributing as an artist to The Dinner Party.
http://www.creativitycenterla.com
December 29, 2005